Chapter 350: LPL New Venue

VG's group filed onto the bus, setting off in a lively manner.

The base was quite far from the city center, taking nearly an hour to get there.

The bus stopped steadily in the underground parking lot; everyone got off and directly took the elevator up to the ninth floor, with seven people cramming the elevator full.

The LPL venue was on the ninth floor; the elevator rose slowly, and everyone chattered.

"Hey, after the match, shall we go out for a stroll?"

"Sure, sure, I haven't even seen the Oriental Pearl Tower yet!"

"It seems to be right outside the mall."

"No, you've been playing in Shanghai for so long, haven't you come here?"

"It's pretty far from here; who would come out just for fun when the fare isn't free?"

"Exactly, do you think everyone's as rich as you?"

"... Fine, never mind."

Liang Yan was left speechless after being snapped at by the two Snake Team brothers.

Fu Lan Duo then asked Long Ge:

"No objections, Long Ge? After the match, shall we go out for a stroll?"

Long Ge, squeezed against the elevator door, turned his head with difficulty and chuckled:

"Then I need to check with Manager Gao."

"No need to ask; I'll cover the expenses."

Hmm, this is Ma Ge.

Long Ge laughed helplessly:

"It's not about the cost; I brought you out, and I have to bring you all back safely. You six together are worth tens of millions—if anything happens, I couldn't afford to pay even if I were torn apart and sold for scrap."

Actually, it's more than just tens of millions.

Mainly, Liang Yan's net worth has doubled twice over these past few months.

Yeah, mainly from stock assets.

How much exactly?

Can't say, can't say.

However, Liang Yan's holdings are spread out, so he hasn't appeared in the top-ten shareholder list of any single stock to this day.

Ding-dong!

"We've arrived, let's go."

The elevator doors opened, and Long Ge stepped out first.

Facing the entrance to the LPL main venue, many people were heading inside, where the crowd surged. As the elevator doors opened, a young man holding a ticket inadvertently glanced back.

"Holy shit, Long Ge?"

The guy's eyes lit up, he turned and walked over,

"Is that you, Long Ge? Hey, I'm your fan, can we… holy shit! Sheng Qiang Ge!"

The guy's voice drew other passersby, who all turned to look.

In an instant, the crowd erupted.

"Jiao Shen!"

"Holy shit, it's really Jiao Shen!"

"VG! The VG crew are all here!"

"Ma Ge, Ma Ge! I'm your fan!"

"Marquis! Marquis!"

"Jiao Shen! Sign an autograph!"

The scene instantly descended into chaos as over a hundred spectators swarmed around VG's group; they couldn't even get in, and only by exerting every ounce of strength did they avoid being shoved back into the elevator.

The inconspicuous Duan De Liang felt a bit down, since no one called out his name.

Fortunately, there were security guards on site; after much effort they separated the crowd and maintained order, allowing VG's party to finally enter the lobby.

But even with the guards following, progress was still painfully slow.

The whole scene was just like a VG player fan meet-and-greet; VG's members naturally didn't put on airs, fulfilling every request for photos or autographs.

When the crowd finally dispersed, Long Ge wiped sweat from his forehead, exhaled in relief, and said:

"You scared me to death. Next time I'll just go through the backstage, not the main entrance."

As long as you have a player pass, even if there's no match that day, you can actually enter the spectator seats via the backstage passage—just don't wander around backstage.

VG's members were then able to properly tour the new arena; although new fans occasionally came up for photos and autographs, at least they were no longer surrounded.

The new venue's decoration style mirrors that of the old arena at Hongqiao World, but every detail is far more grandiose than the old one; everything looks fresh and splendid, truly deserving of being a nice attraction.

First, in front of the entrance is a lobby; above the entrance hangs a huge LPL sign, with several similarly LPL-logoed barriers on either side, while the walls and floor are red, glowing pinkish under the soft, bright lighting.

Inside is a Winter Summoner's Rift–themed set, vividly colorful, with a few cosplayers dressed as Winter Festival skin heroes standing before the backdrop; these are official temporary cosplayers hired for the event—they can't pose for photos during work hours, but visitors are free to snap pictures.

You ask, is it possible after work?

Once the match starts, the cosplayers clock off; then you can not only take photos together but even… uh, not merge—you can ask for their WeChat!

After that are two passages leading to the competition arena.

On the wall of the right passage hang plaques introducing various players, clubs, and events, from ancient times to last year's World Championship, and even the recent De Cup; one sign after another, with textual descriptions, stir the visitors' memories.

LPL Memorial Wall

Next to the entrance of the right passage stands a massive Barbarian King figurine, exquisitely detailed; the exposed upper-body muscles are twisted, the bronzed skin glows with a lifelike sheen, wielding a great sword as it looks down upon all beings, radiating domineering presence.

Barbarian King model

Fu Lan Duo looked at the huge Tadamir figure and murmured:

"This thing probably costs a few hundred thousand, huh..."

Liang Yan stood beside him, nodding slightly, but in his mind he was calculating that after he retired later, he would buy a villa and also install one of these at the gate—so cool!

Besides, there's also a machine over there that seems to be for taking group photos.

Further inside is a sales area where staff are on duty, selling various merchandise related to LoL and LPL, such as figures, team jerseys, gaming peripherals, and so on—everything you can imagine, dazzling the eyes.

Furthermore, the team can take a portion of the revenue from selling team jerseys.

Finally, there's the main venue.

The venue is mainly divided into spectator stands and the players' stage.

At maximum capacity, the spectator stands can hold nearly two thousand people, but under normal circumstances only about a thousand seats are opened.

A huge main screen hangs above the stage, with two curved screens behind it, making the viewing experience beyond words.

S7 Season LPL Main Venue - Zhengda Guangchang

Overall, the new main venue's space is huge; compared to that, every aspect is much better than the old venue at Rainbow Bridge World, mainly due to its grandeur!

"Great, really great, so great..."

Gangzi kept praising as he went along, and at the same time felt proud to be a member of the LPL.

As for Marquis, who came over from the LCK, what he saw was a side of China's esports developing rapidly. Although the Han Guo esports industry started early and its overall level is relatively high, in terms of offline tournament scale and venue facilities, China has already surpassed Han Guo, which will inevitably create a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats effect on the competition level.

In other words, the LPL will only get stronger in the future.

Marquis's resolve only grew stronger.

Coming to the LPL was the right choice!

The VG members took their seats in the front rows of the spectator stands.